


How a Man Becomes a Daddy

by Skyler10



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Baby Fic, Daddy Doctor, F/M, Fluff, Humor, Innuendo, Pete's World, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-16 03:16:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7249825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyler10/pseuds/Skyler10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose finds out she’s pregnant and everyone seems to have questions, including little Tony.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One: The Big News

**Author's Note:**

> For TPP’s monthly prompt: “I can’t believe that is your holiday reading.” Also because I can't seem to stop writing beach scenes and have been having major Daddy!Doctor feels this month. haha

Rose had been away in New York for two very long weeks leading a summit for women working in intergalactic relations. He would have gone with her, but he was near a breakthrough on his latest project in his lab and needed to be there himself to get it right. She had been so passionate about the summit and excited to take the women on their Torchwood team with her that it felt wrong he should miss her so much and be so lost without her physically with him. They had survived years apart, after all. Not that he was exactly thriving then. But this was only two bloody weeks! And they had done plenty of video chatting and texting and phone calls every day.

But in addition to being gone and the time difference, she had never really gotten over the jetlag and had been a little sick. Inwardly, he wished he could be there to take care of her. Out loud, he had mentioned it might be the conference hotel’s breakfast food upsetting her stomach. American food was more different than it looked, he said on one of their late-night (for him) chats, but she admitted it was probably just nerves. She had to introduce the keynote speaker every morning and she was always terrified she was going to mix them up or mispronounce their names.

Of course, she had done brilliantly and made vital contacts from across the globe. Now, late in the evening London time, success and suitcase in tow, she was on her way back to him, searching for him at the airport baggage claim.

He grinned as she caught sight of him and ran to greet her. She dropped the handle of her luggage and launched herself into his arms. They kissed passionately, disregarding any airport protocol or other passengers’ opinions about public displays of affection.  

“I missed you so much,” she panted as he lowered her back to the ground.

“Oh, love. I missed you too. And I’m so proud of you.” He couldn’t resist going in for another snog, not when she’d been away for so long.

She pulled away and whispered in his ear, “Wanna take me home and share a shower with me?” Just in case the invitation wasn’t clear enough, she added, “Because I’m feeling _very_ dirty.”

Her naughty joke did the trick. He swallowed and replied, “Rose Tyler, I would like nothing more.”

He picked up the handle of her rolling suitcase and led her to the car. His part-Time Lord taste buds told him something was different about her kiss, but he wasn’t quite sure what. He chalked it up to being apart for far too long and quickly forgot about it, focusing instead on listening to her stories and driving in airport traffic.

It wasn’t until they were going to sleep that night that he had a taste of pure Rose. No lipstick or soapy fragrances in the air or anything to distract him.

She was exhausted after the trans-Atlantic travel, the stress of leading a two-week-long summit, and their randy and intimate shower. They kissed goodnight and cuddled close together, and she was out like a light. He, however, had a mystery to solve. There _was_ something different about her taste on his tongue. Being only part-Time Lord, it was taking him longer than it used to to analyze the chemical structure. Hormones. Something about the deliciously feminine hormones she was producing.

She turned over in her sleep, dislodging herself from their cuddling. He leaned over to kiss her temple and was about to spoon behind her when it hit him with the force of a locomotive.

He shot up in bed and stared down at his sleeping wife. He couldn’t be sure, as he didn’t exactly have a lot of personal experience to go on, but there was nothing else it could be. They hadn’t exactly been trying, but they had agreed not to prevent it, per se. “Just if it happens, it happens,” as she had phrased it. And, he remembered quite well, the weeks leading up to her trip had included plenty of opportunities for it to, ahem, _happen_.

He scrambled out of bed as quietly as possible. Sure, they had talked about it in theory. But it was a wholly different situation to find out it was a reality, he was learning. Completely, utterly, terrifyingly, amazingly, brilliantly different.

It wouldn’t do to wake her while he was like this. He paced their room, hand in his hair, scratching his scalp as he formed a plan. He would take her on a relaxing holiday in the TARDIS. To recover from the summit, of course. Then, if she already knew about it and wanted to tell him, she could, with no distractions or work getting in the way. And if not, she would figure it out soon enough. She was clever, his Rose.

He turned back to the bed in his pacing to watch her sleep. His mental breakdown was interrupted briefly by the radiant, crystal clarity of a single thought:

She was going to be the most wonderful mother to their child.

* * *

 

The next morning, Rose shuffled through her bag while the Doctor made breakfast. She had been too tired to unpack last night and forgotten all about the box within. She had purchased it on a whim at a drug store while walking back to her hotel on their last day in the city. Her friends had gone to more tourist sites, but she just needed a kip more than anything. And a snack.

She popped into the corner shop and found herself wandering through the pharmacy aisle. Her eyes landed on the test and the puzzle pieces clicked into place: she had completely forgotten that she had skipped her period this month. Not in itself unusual, but combined with their unprotected “let’s just not prevent it” sex life, she felt her heart skip a beat, her palms grow sweaty, and her mouth go dry.

Her stomach swooped in a very different way than it had been all week as she reached for the box. The instructions said it was most reliable in the morning. Before she could talk herself out of it, she purchased it and carried it as subtly as she could back to her hotel, making sure to use a side entrance so she wouldn’t run into anyone from the summit on the way.

Of course, in the hubbub of the closing day of the gathering, it was easy to pretend it wasn’t there, buried in her suitcase, waiting to potentially change everything.

Now, as her husband clattered about in the kitchen of their flat, it was much more difficult to put off. She gathered her courage and her makeup bag, stacked the box on top, and headed into the loo.

Ten minutes later, she had taken both tests in the box and thrown up once. The answer was as clear as it possibly could be. Her mind raced with joy and fear and disbelief. It landed on the next step in the process: how to tell the Doctor. She wiped at her running mascara and made a decision. This wonderful man had lost so much, his entire species, even. He had given up everything he knew in their old universe to be with her here. She loved him more than anything, with her entire being. News as life changing as this deserved a special revelation.

A thought snuck in that she wasn’t entirely sure how he would react. While she was fairly certain it would be positive at the core, how that manifested itself in his behavior would be anyone’s guess. He never ceased to surprise her, which was ordinarily a good thing, but in this case, that meant she would have to go about this carefully. She didn’t want to just spring it on him, and she certainly didn’t want it to be while she was sitting on the side of the tub with tear stains and smudged eyeliner and nausea that made a lot more sense now that she had the two test results in her hand.

She hid the tests back in their box in the cabinet behind her pads and tampons. Not only would that be somewhere he would never look, she appreciated the irony. With a wry smile, she went about removing her makeup and starting over, though it took her twice as long as usual because she kept stopping to lift up her shirt and brush a hand over her middle, wondering what it would look like in a few months, stretched with their growing baby.  

* * *

 

The surprise vacation in the TARDIS to a luxurious resort on a warm, tropical planet was _un_ surprisingly well-received by Rose. She even kept checking him out when she thought he wasn’t looking. Though, he had to admit, he was doing the same to her. He wondered if it was just his poor human memory or if she really was already “glowing,” as his books said she would be.

He had downloaded several books to his tablet while she slept. He had also read most of the dad-oriented websites, at least the ones for expecting parents, and found most of them unhelpful and a bit condescending. Then again, he was a good 870 years older than most men reading these, so perhaps he wasn’t being fair to the websites’ creators.

His lack of sleep the night before was catching up with him, however. His eyelids began to droop as he watched his wife from a lounge chair at the side of the pool. She floated around and happily chatted away with a couple they had met at lunch. Seeing she was sufficiently distracted, he forced back his oncoming sleepiness and opened one of his newly purchased books. His drive to research everything he could about fatherhood was already proving difficult to hide from her because, of course, she would ask what he was reading so intently.

After reading the introduction and chapter one, he was mildly impressed. In comparison to the websites, this book seemed unusually helpful in the area of advice for new fathers in the context of 21st century Earth. He flipped back to the cover so he could remember the name and author.

As he waited for the page to load, this is where he began to lose the battle.

The tropical sun, light breeze, and hum of conversation on the other side of the pool overpowered him and the human side of his physiology. His head fell back against the lounge chair, his eyes slipped shut, and a kip proved futile to resist.

* * *

 

Rose’s lips pressed together to hold back her amusement. He was just so cute, napping in his sailboat-patterned swim shorts and with his tablet on his lap. _Such a dad already_. The thought surprised her as much as it delighted her. She picked up his tablet to turn it off. She could already see the pout on his face if it ran out of battery before he had the chance to read whatever it was. What _was_ he reading, anyway?

She nearly dropped the tablet in shock as she read the title: “How a Man Becomes a Daddy.”

Her eyes darted between him and the tablet. Maybe it was just a fluke. A topic of interest. He was a very curious man. And, after all, it’s not like they hadn’t talked about it.

Her water-pruned finger slipped against the screen. The entire first page of his digital library was full of similarly titled books. Some seemed more scientific or medical, others sounded more like memoir, and still others, like the one here, seemed to be guidebook-style advice books. All written, or so she guessed from the titles, for expecting dads.

He woke to find her staring at him. Her mouth was moving but no sound was coming out, her eyes were sparkling with a tear or two, and she was holding his tablet.

“I…” Her voice cracked and she tried again. “I can’t believe this is your holiday reading.”

He nodded and stood, taking her hand.

“C’mon,” he invited softly.

“Where are we going?” He soothed her confusion with a kiss and a gentle caress of her cheek.

“To the beach. There’s something I need to tell you and the sun is about to set and… Just trust me, this needs to be perfect.”

She followed him down from the pool to the sand, but stopped him as he began to speak.

“Let me go first,” she interrupted. “Please.”

He moved to stand face-to-face with her and searched her eyes. She took both of his hands in hers and bit her lip.

“So I figured out what’s been wrong with me this week. Not wrong, but why I’ve been tired. And sick. It wasn’t just the travel.”

He broke out in a wide smile, but waited for her to continue.

“You know how we were just going to… to see what happened? Well, it happened.”

“Say the words, love,” he begged, his expression already bathing her in awe and adoration.

“Doctor, I’m pregnant.”

Their joy shone in the evening light as the entire sky broke forth in its most exuberant colors, as if it was saving them just for this moment.  

He barely let her get the words out before he was lifting her up and snogging her breathless. Later, she would ask again about the ebooks on his tablet and he would explain about the hormones. She would be a little grossed out, but mostly tickled that his first reaction was to read everything he could. That night in bed, he would tease her that human-made tests might not be accurate and in order to be really thorough, she needed an exam from her Doctor, which he happily provided, tasting her over and over, and not just her mouth, but in a location “far more likely to produce accurate results. It’s all about proximity, Rose.”

But he didn’t need an excuse, anyway. She certainly wasn’t complaining. Quite the opposite.


	2. Telling the Family

It always seemed to work out that if there wasn’t an emergency at Torchwood, there was one at Vitex. Jackie Tyler had had enough of never seeing her husband, so she put her foot down and called a date night. The very next thing she did after informing Pete he was taking her out was ring her only daughter and appeal to her sense of family duty.

“Sure. Lemme check with the Doctor, but I don’t see why not,” Rose agreed, faster than Jackie had anticipated. “Oh, wait, he just came in. Hold on.”

Rose covered the mobile, but Jackie heard their muffled conversation anyway:

“Check with me ‘bout what?” the Doctor mumbled, probably with his mouth full.

“Babysitting Tony tomorrow night.”

 “Sure. Don’t see why not,” he unknowingly echoed her earlier answer, making Jackie smile against the phone. “Are we gonna tell ‘em? ‘Bout the…”

 “Shh!” Rose scolded. “She’s still on the phone. And chew with your mouth closed.”

“You already sound like a—”

“Shh!” she cut him off. “Stop it. She’s gonna hear you.”

Jackie heard the sound of a kiss to her daughter’s cheek and her son-in-law’s voice.

“Hi, Jackie,” he called from rather close by the phone. Rose laughed and told him to go away.

“Sorry ‘bout that, Mum.” Rose returned her attention to the call. “Yes, that works for us. We’ll see you then.”

They rang off, and Jackie replayed the conversation in her head. Something was definitely up with those two lately. Since they had gotten back from their holiday in the TARDIS to that alien beach resort. At first she had thought it was just the combination of young love, space-ocean water, and who knows what effects a weird sun somewhere halfway across the galaxy might have? But now it had been long enough, she was certain: They were hiding something. But, if it was even possible, their playful flirting had increased since their return. So it couldn’t be anything bad… at least, not in their estimation. Probably discovered some new species or had some death-defying adventure that would be all fun and games to them, but make her worry all the more.

Some resilient part of her still hoped one of these days their good news would be a bit more _domestic_. Goodness knows having Tony kept her young and on her toes, but grandkids would be nice… someday. But for now, she was happy that Rose was happy. That’s all the mattered.

Jackie sighed and tried not to picture how cute a miniature combination of Rose and the Doctor would be.

* * *

 

Jackie was bubbling with energy when she answered the door for Rose and the Doctor.

“Tony’s upstairs playing video games. He’ll be down in no time. Already in his jim-jams. We did bath time early tonight,” she rambled as they made their way to the living area.

“Mum,” Rose started, touching her mother’s arm to stop her. “Actually before you go, there’s something we want to tell you and Dad.”

Pete entered on cue, straightening his blazer and tie.

“What’s that, sweetheart?” he asked, coming to stand beside Jackie.

The Doctor tried to hide his smile, but he hadn’t been able to keep it in since that evening on the beach.

“You’re celebrating tonight,” he hinted.

“And what’s that?” Jackie played along, tentatively mirroring his smile.

Rose grabbed the Doctor’s hand and looked up at him, then to her parents as she answered.

“You’re going to be grandparents,” she revealed. “Surprise!”

Pete chuckled and patted the Doctor on the back in a manly embrace as Jackie shrieked and wrapped Rose in a bear hug.

“Really?” Jackie checked, glancing between Rose and the Doctor. “You do mean a baby, right? A human baby? Not like when you called the TARDIS rock a baby?”

Rose laughed and reassured her mother.

“A real baby, yes.”

Pete blinked back a bit of moisture in his eyes.

“Congratulations, both of you,” he said sincerely. “And Rose, whatever you need, you just say the word. We’ll have to talk about what this means for field work, of course, but--”

“Field work?!” Jackie cut in. “Pete, for goodness sake, no talking about work at a time like this! Our little girl is having a baby!”

Jackie didn’t let him respond however. Instead she turned back to Rose and began grilling her on every question that passed through her mind, all at once.

“How far along are you? Are you feeling alright? Is he taking care of you?” Jackie demanded. “He better be taking care of you, Rose. Oh god, did you eat anything alien while you were gone? Don’t forget about the alcohol thing. You remember when I was pregnant with Tony and we had to go to all those fundraisers and everyone kept serving me cocktails, which of course, I had to just stand there holdin’, because we didn’t want it to leak to the press yet. You’ve got to be careful, Rose, people just hand you alcohol and it’s so easy to forget at those parties…”

“Mum, I’m pregnant, not an idiot,” Rose deadpanned and rolled her eyes.

Pete got a call in his study just in time.

“Sorry, I have to get that.” And with that eloquent excuse, he was gone and saved from the rest of Jackie’s interrogation.

“OH! And no more time traveling,” Jackie declared. “Who knows what that machine will do to the baby!”

“Actually, that’s where you’re wrong.” The Doctor was all too gleeful to point out. “With me being a Time Lord and Rose being, well, Rose, our biology is a perfect fit. Don’t you see, Jackie? The artron energy and void stuff in Rose’s body plus the predisposition for it in my genetics means this child literally has time and space travel in its blood!”

“Well. I still don’t think it’s natural.” Jackie shook her head and frowned in defiance of his alien-science.

“Seriously, Mum, it’s fine. More than,” Rose reassured her. “We’ve already been traveling since I’ve been pregnant, remember? Honestly, I feel great. As much as can be expected, anyway.”

Pete emerged from his study, business call finished.

“Sorry about that. Ready to go, love?” he asked Jackie and offered her his arm.

“We’ll be back by 11,” she told the Doctor and Rose. “And don’t think this changes the rules any. You may be parents now, but I’m still your mum.” She presumably meant to say this to Rose, but it was the Doctor who was getting the Mum Stare. Pete led her out the door and to the waiting car.

“Have a good time,” Rose called as they shut the door behind them.

“That went well,” the Doctor assessed. “Could’ve gone worse, for sure.”

“She’s gonna be watching you this whole pregnancy. Like a hawk,” she warned him.

“Watching _me_?” The Doctor recoiled in protest with a finger pointed at himself. “It’s you who she’s…”

He trailed off at Rose shaking her head as if she knew something he wasn’t seeing.

“Uhn uh. Remember our wedding? As her only daughter, I’m the one who gets advice and hovered over, sure. But you, my dear husband, are the one she has to trust to take care of me.”

“Well,” he sniffed and pursed his lips. Rose had the impression that if he had a tie on, he would have adjusted it. “I’ve been doing that for quite a while now, thanks very much, so she should know she has nothing to worry about. Telling us we can’t travel in the TARDIS. Really, Rose!”

“Hey, I just thought of something,” she laughed and tugged lightly at his sleeve as if she’d thought of a really great joke and couldn’t wait to tell him. “What if… You know how women always talk about these weird food cravings, like pickles and ice cream? What if I got time travel cravings? Like for some reason, I just really feel like visiting the Jurassic time or whatever. Wouldn’t that be funny?”

The Doctor didn’t laugh, but twisted his lips up in an amused smile.

“Oh.” The lightbulb went off in Rose’s head. “Ohmygod, you’re serious? That’s really what’s going to happen?”

 _Now_ the Doctor laughed and pulled her in for a hug. Rose exhaled against him.

“You were just havin’ me on,” she concluded, slapping his arm in punishment.

“I don’t know!” He raised his arms in surrender. “Honestly, love, there’s a chance, but this hasn’t exactly been done before, remember? I’m not only the last of my kind anymore. I’m the first. I’m the only one!”

“Like Tigger!” Tony piped up. They both startled a bit, as they hadn’t heard him come down. “The wonderful thing about Doctors is you’re the only one!” he sang, bouncing stair to stair.

Rose beamed up at her husband.

“Well, sort of,” the Doctor amended. “But thanks. In this context and universe, Tony, you are exactly right.”

“Rose?” Tony asked, approaching his sister. She knelt down to his level. “You’re getting a baby?”

“Yeah, you’re gonna be an uncle!” She took his little hand in hers and swung it gently.

Tony scrunched up his brow in confusion. The Doctor knelt next to Rose and tried to explain. 

“You know how Rose is your sister? Well, your sister’s baby is your niece or nephew, depending on if it’s a boy or a girl. That makes you their uncle. If you have kids, I’ll be their uncle and Rose will be their aunt. And our kid will be their cousin.”

Tony stared at the Doctor as if he was speaking a foreign language. Rose sighed and put it another way.

“You’ve got friends at school with baby sisters and brothers, right?” She waited as Tony nodded. “It’ll be like that, but this baby is going to live with me and the Doctor, because we’ll be its mummy and daddy.”

“And I’ll live here with our mummy and daddy?” Tony asked sincerely.

“Yeah, that’s how it works.” Rose nodded, equally as serious. “Until you grow up. Then you can live wherever you want.”

“Like the moon?!” Tony asked, already giggling.

“Ah, actually I don’t recommend the moon.” The Doctor scratched behind his ear and squinted in recollection. “Too many rhinos trying to play policeman. Of course, wasn’t really their fault there was a vampire about.”

The Tyler siblings grinned at his storytelling that would sound mad to anyone else. It was one of their favorite things about him.

“C’mon you two.” Rose jerked her head toward the kitchen. “Time for popcorn and a movie.”

“Yay!” Tony cheered and bounced up and down.

The Doctor scooped him up and carried him to the kitchen, little boy screeches and giggles echoing throughout the huge house.

Two hours later, the credits of “Finding Nemo” were rolling to a close and the strawberry blond in the T-rex jimjams on the Doctor’s lap showed no signs of waking. In fact, he just cuddled closer against his brother-in-law’s chest.

“Hey, you know what?” Rose admired the scene beside her and stroked the Doctor’s arm.

“What?” the Doctor whispered.

“I think you’re gonna make a really great Dad.”

She expected him to wink and joke or tell some story bragging about his popularity with kids, but instead the expression on his face broke her heart.

“Really?” His eyes were round and innocent with hope, the corner of his lip turn up in a tentative smile.

“Yeah, ‘course I do.” Her heart swelled with love for him, who had lost so much.

“I’m going to do it right this time, Rose. Everything…”

“That’s why you’re reading all those books,” she finally realized. “Oh, Doctor. You don’t have to do all that to be the perfect dad, you know. You already are. You’re you. Look.”

She gestured to the snoring kid using him as a body pillow.

“Tony adores you,” she pointed out. “So will ours. I love that you want to know everything you can and care so much to prepare so early on. I do too. God, I’ve already lost count of how many groups and websites and emails for mums I’ve subscribed to since we’ve been back. But that’s exactly what tells me we’re gonna be fine. Plus, we’ve had a bit of practice.”

They both smiled down at Tony, who was beginning to stir.

“Yeah,” the Doctor agreed softly. “Hey mate, time for bed. Want me to carry you up to your room?”

Tony nodded sleepily against the Doctor’s chest. “Can Rose come too?” he asked around a yawn.

“Sure I will.” Rose brushed back his sleep-ruffled hair before turning to switch off the telly.

She stretched and followed them up the stairs. Tony mumbled against the Doctor’s shirt.

“What’s that, hmm?” the Doctor asked.

Tony lifted his head and asked more clearly, but still slurred with exhaustion.

“Where do babies come from anyway?” He squinted his eyes and peered up at the Doctor. “Why don’t you have it yet? Where is it now?”

She valiantly bit back a laugh that most definitely would have him more awake and asking more questions. Before she could say anything, however, the Doctor answered.

“Well, the baby is inside Rose.”

Tony’s eyes widened and he looked to her for confirmation. Rose sighed. He would figure it out anyway when her stomach was the size of a beach ball and he couldn’t fit on her lap anymore. Probably earlier.

“That’s how they grow,” she explained as they reached the top of the stairs. She put it in as simple of terms as she could, hoping he would accept it at face value. “Babies grow inside their mummy. Then they are born, and that’s their birthday.”

“But how did they get there?”

Swiftly, just in case the Doctor had a frank reply planned, Rose dismissed his question.

“You can ask Dad in the morning. He’ll explain it all then.”

“But Rose…” Tony whined. The Doctor laid him down on his bed, but he continued to pout at his sister.

“Hush, love. Now it’s bedtime. No more talking.” She tucked him in and kissed him goodnight. She sat on the side of the bed and stroked his hair back from his forehead until his eyes drooped closed once more.

They turned on the rocket ship nightlight and slipped out of his room as quietly as they could.

The Doctor snuck little smirks at her the entire way back downstairs.

“Oh, shut it,” Rose mumbled, trying not to giggle until they were safely out of earshot. She made a mental note to warn her parents on the off chance that Tony remembered to ask again in the morning.

* * *

 

Jackie and Pete found them on the sofa a little after midnight. Instead of asleep, like usual, they were flipping through one of Jackie’s parenting magazines. Jackie thought this showed remarkable maturity, until she realized they were poking fun at the endorsements of expensive products and (what they no doubt considered to be) overly cautious advice.

“And what kind of time do you call this?” Rose sat up and directed a pointed look at her mother. “I was almost worried. Or, I would have been, had I realized how late it was before you walked in.”

“Yes, where were you two, anyway? Not out causing trouble I presume?” the Doctor demanded in a silly pretentious accent that was supposed to be his “dad voice.” He directed a faux stern look at his mother-in-law over the top of his reading glasses.

Jackie just smiled at Pete, who gazed lovingly back.

“We had a marvelous time,” Pete answered diplomatically, never taking his eyes off his wife.

“Ah. Well, we’ll be going then.” The Doctor pulled Rose to her feet and grabbed their car keys.

Rose hugged her mum. “I’m glad you had a good time.”

“Thanks, love. And thanks for doing this,” Jackie returned.

“No problem.” Rose watched the Doctor and Pete shake hands and exchange similar thanks. “Oh, and one more thing… You know what? Never mind.”

“What?” Jackie prodded.

“Nah, can’t even remember any more.”

“Alright,” Jackie surrendered easily. It was too late for arguing anyway. She was sure whatever it was would wait until morning. And it did.

* * *

 

“Daddy, the baby’s in Rose’s tummy, right?” Tony asked at the breakfast table, cereal spoon in his fist.

Pete nearly choked on his toast.

“That’s right. So you know about the baby, then?”

“Yes,” Tony confirmed with a dangerously pondering look about him. “But how did it get there?”

“Uh, well, you see, son…” Pete stalled, hoping some divine answer would come to him from above.

“Did she eat something to make it grow there? Because the Doctor said it was his baby too. Did she eat something of the Doctor’s?”

Pete blushed and looked up in time to see Jackie silently shaking with laughter from the doorway behind Tony. She shook her head at her husband and left him to answer, an act she would not quickly be forgiven for.

And in a very different sense from the advice given in the Doctor’s book of the same name, that’s how Tony found out how a man becomes a daddy.


End file.
